Annihilation: Book 05 - Searcher (7 page)

“Yes, I was. It, I mean he, is quite adept at helping me see issues.”

The Algean looked at Matt and waited but after a long pause he said, “Got nothing to say?”

Al responded, “Nope.”

“I imagine you’ve hacked into the building instructions for computers like yourself and have determined that you don’t match up very well with the system’s descriptions.”

There was a heavy mental sigh and then Matt heard, “Ya caught me. I don’t come close to matching what your manuals say I should be. I linked with the other computers in the Searchers that helped with our just completed rescue and the only one that seemed even close to being similar to me was the one on Wings.”

The Algean swayed a little and said, “That’s because you two are the only one of your kind. You were constructed completely different from every other ship.”

Matt asked, “What does that mean?”

“Al has been given a neural network that is staggering in its structure. He, and wings, was designed to take the Searchers brain structure and duplicate it inside his network. Basically, Mr. Gardner, he is you with all the knowledge of the Realm available for decision making. He is the product of incremental developments from the computer we originally put in for Sten during the construction of the Alexander Kosiev more than a thousand years ago. That computer was the starting point of all our modern cybernetic developments. That was the first ship that would imprint on its commander. Our modern development will also imprint the commander’s personality.”

Matt thought about what he had just heard. “Then why do you need me? Just imprint ships on Searchers and do away with the pilot.”

“Doesn’t work that way; unlike the first computer in the Kosiev, the modern neural network only stays intact by contact with the Searcher’s mind. If the Searcher is separated from the computer for longer than five days, the network breaks down.”

“You’re not planning any trips are you,” Al said to Matt.

The Algean actually laughed in his thoughts and couldn’t stop. Soon Matt and Al caught his laughter and began laughing themselves. “This is better than I ever thought possible,” the Algean got out between his chuckling.

Matt took a deep breath, “What do we call you?”

“I’m still an adolescent so I have not been given an official name by my leaders. You may call me whatever you want.”

“Who are your parents?”

“I am a seed of Sprig and Twig.”

“Holy crap,” Al and Matt thought together.

Matt paused and said, “That means you have all of the memories of your parents; both your parents. I am impressed.” Matt leaned back in his chair and thought, “We are going to call you Stem.”

The Algean’s thoughts showed his approval. “I accept. It’s a good name. Thank you.”

“Why did you choose the two ships for your experiment?”

“Hey, who you calling an experiment?”

Matt smiled and thought, “I thought you only responded when asked a question.”

“That was then, this is now.”

“I’m afraid your computer is right, Mr. Gardner. Unlike other ships, this computer will develop skills that will make him somewhat more autonomous than others. I’m here to see how he develops and see if that autonomy interferes with your use of the ship or enhances it.”

“I’ll behave; please don’t turn me off.’

Matt smiled and said, “I actually like you the way you are, Al. You are the one that saved the Gresh fleet from destruction. Thanks for your help in avoiding the loss of life.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“I think that you need to call me Magic instead of Mr. Gardner, Stem.”

“Magic it is. You can tell me why later; right now you have a task ahead of you, don’t you?”

“Yes, it seems the Gresh were planning to invade all eight planets that were trading partners. The other Searchers found fleets headed toward the other six planets and turned them around. One of those fleets had a third of it destroyed before the Gresh High command recalled the others. I think a trip to the Gresh home world is called for and I was trying to decide whether or not to call in some of our defender ships to get their attention.”

The Algean thought a moment, “I think the size of those ships would certainly get their attention, however, sometimes they need to know they stand no chance. If they could not withstand one of our small ships, then they should get the message about our larger classes. By the way, you know that an Alpha ship can defeat any ship in the Realm’s Navy.”

Matt paused a moment, “No, I didn’t know that. I assumed that the larger ships were also endowed with greater weapons.”

“Only the Alphas have all of our systems built in and only one of them has every system.”

Matt waited and didn’t want to ask but he felt he should know. “What ship is that?”

“You’re standing on it, buddy,” Al answered. “I wondered what all this stuff was that isn’t listed in the ships manuals.”

Matt then asked the question he wasn’t sure he wanted an answer, “Why was I selected to command this ship?”

The Algean bent forward slightly indicating a smile, “Because your mind is the only one big enough to be able to control it. The ship selected you. If you had not come along this ship may have never been raised; it did because you possess the necessary abilities to use it. However, your tests indicate that you are not completely developed. Some of the systems in this ship will not activate until all your psychic skills become active.”

“When will that happen, Stem?”

“Maybe never; latent abilities could remain dormant or they could happen immediately. Either way, your current level was enough to raise this ship. I have been waiting for this moment for three hundred years and I must say that I am excited at the prospect of seeing what the future holds.”

“What about Wings? Does she also have all of the advanced systems?”

“No, she was designed at a lower threshold than Al. If Angel had not already raised wings two months earlier, you would have probably raised both ships. We were incredibly lucky that Angel raised her ship first.”

“Well, I guess I am going to visit the Gresh. Perhaps they will listen to what will happen if they continue their aggressive habits.”

‘If you don’t mind, I’ve asked Fleet Command release Wings from her search mission until this problem resolves itself. I think it would be a good learning experience for Wing’s computer to take part in this exercise.”

“I don’t mind at all, Stem.”

“Now if you don’t mind I will probably just be an observer most of the time. There are some equations that have been problematic and I need the processing time. If you need me just send me a thought.”

“If you like I’ll sing you a lullaby to help you sleep,” Al interjected.

Stem chuckled, “I can already tell that this is going to get interesting.”

Matt just sat and shook his head.

“So now you have your own personal Algean,” Angel thought.

“Yep, why don’t you just fly on over to their home world and pick up one for yourself? Pick a short one, there’s not much room on your bridge for a tall one.”

Angel snickered, “No, I think I’ll just keep things as they are.”

“Are you ready to take a trip out to see the Gresh?”

“I’ll follow your lead. How do you want to handle it?”

“I am not going there to cause loss of life. I don’t think they can hurt us so I’m going to avoid killing their ships if it can be avoided.”

“Matt, I don’t think they will give you that luxury. It’s their home system and they will be ferocious in its defense.”

“Here’s how we’ll make that happen. They have not developed a star drive that allows them to jump inside the jump limit. I passed a system on my way into this spiral arm during my search that has a huge star. The jump limit is more than eighty hours out from the inner planets. I plan to teleport any ship that comes close to us to the inner planets of that system so they won’t make it back for more than three days. I of course, am not going to tell the Gresh that their ships are unharmed; I’ll let them think what they want.”

Angel was once again impressed with Matt’s ability to see patterns that she had missed. “We could have done that here.”

“Different situation; if the ships attacking the planet did not see the consequences of their aggression then they would have thought we were too soft to hurt them. They are not doing anything but defending their own turf when we go to them. We shouldn’t harm them for doing something that we would do ourselves.”

“Would you be so kind to send me the coordinates of that star system you want use?”

“Al has already sent them to Fly Girl.”

“Those two sure do communicate with each other a lot.”

“They’re kindred spirits and have a lot in common. Stem we are preparing to enter the Gresh’s home system. Is there anything you want to suggest before we port?”

“I would suggest that if they fire any missiles or projectiles at your ships that you destroy them so that they can see just how strong your defenses are.”

“Good idea; teleporting in 3,2,1, go”

The two small red ships entered the Gresh home system and found more than two hundred thousand missiles homing in on them. “Stem, did you know that we were going to get this kind of welcome?”

“Yes, I took a look at the system prior to your arrival but I didn’t want to spoil the surprise by telling you in advance.”

Fly Girl said, “Good choice; no one likes a party pooper.”

Matt and Angel laughed and proceeded to destroy the incoming barrage before any of them could come close. Immediately more than five hundred ships rushed toward them; all five hundred disappeared in an instant. The Grand Warlord on the planet watched the battle on his monitor and stood and clinched his fists as the five hundred ships disappeared. “Send a thousand at the intruders,” he screamed. A thousand ships accelerated at the two small ships and disappeared.

The Warlord sat down and watched as half of his remaining ten thousand ships turned toward the two small red ships and after a brief moment disappeared. He had watched the recordings from the action these strange ships had done at the planet his forces had conquered. He knew with deadly certainty that his forces were no match for these two small ships much less the ones that were the size of a small moon. He pushed a button on his chair and said, “All ships, move away from the intruders. Do not fire on them.”

The remaining Gresh ships turned and moved rapidly away from the incoming small, red glowing ships. The Grand Warlord then heard over his communication speakers, “You made a wise decision to spare the remainder of your fleet. I imagine that there would be a line of planets fighting for the opportunity to eliminate your species if you lost them all.”

The Warlord though a moment and he had to agree that the speaker was probably right. The remaining ships would still not be enough if the worlds he had attacked all joined forces against him. For the first time in his life he felt the fear he had sown on the other planets. “What do you want?”

“Nothing really; I just wanted to have an uninterrupted conversation with you and your ships were not cooperating.”

The Warlord’s fear doubled. These two small ships acted like destroying most of his fleet meant nothing to them. On the way in system the two small ships paused at one of the larger planets and the voice said, “I am going to have a brief demonstration for your benefit. Please look at the moon that is approaching our position.” The Warlord pushed a button and saw on his display the small red ships next to one of the moons circling the large tenth planet. Suddenly a bright red beam shot out from one of the small ships and the moon blew up into dust. “Warlord, we only used a tenth of our beams power. The dust will be pulled down to the planet’s surface and should not be a navigation hazard for your ships in the future.”

The Warlord along with every Gresh on the planet and the fleet saw death approaching their world. Finally the two small ships stopped just above the planet and parked directly above the fortress where the Warlord was sitting. “Are you ready to have our conversation, Warlord?”

“What do you want?”

Matt looked at his display showing the large humanoid being sitting on a throne. He was easily as big as a Glod Warrior and had a face similar to humans. His skin was ebony black and his head was bald. His eyes were deep set and his pupils were black. Matt could see the tension on his face, “I desire some agreements from you that I can count on you keeping.”

“What agreements do you desire?”

“I want you to agree to stop your attacks on other planets and to recall all of your forces occupying any planets you have conquered. I also hope you will open a dialogue with those conquests and attempt to repair the damage you’ve caused.”

The Warlord was stunned speechless. The voice said, “Would you like me to repeat my requests?”

The Warlord said, “You say these are requests. Are you saying that I have a choice in this matter?”